AC201FF: The FWD TRF Buggy (Prototype)!
This is the FWD Buggy I've been working on for almost a full year now. A working prototype, TRF201 (Gearbox) and DB01 (Front Uprights) based design and many, many custom parts. I've run it a few times now... The orange 3D printed parts need reinforcing, other than that it feels very good so far. I hope there are some updates soon, and the plan is to send it to the UK this winter to test on carpet/indoor tracks :)
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Side view, body on...
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It's a strange looking beast!
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No space for upright shocks on the front end...
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IFS/Inboard Front Suspension was the solution!
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Long Rear Arms for a forward weight balance...
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The front suspension detail...
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The CAD Design...
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The workings of the front suspension in CAD...
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An earlier design with Double wishbone rear end...
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Watch out or it'll munch away your rear motor!
Comments
davidr2007
Hats off to you for making and designing superbly engineered and great looking Car. Seriously I have not seen anything so original, i WOULD PUT A ORDER IF YOU STARTED PRODUCTION
vERY NICE PAL.
Percymon
Wow - what a great looking buggy. Looks superb and if it drives as well as it looks it'll be a great item in any collection
AJFord
Fantastic engineering, really unique stuff. How does it perform though? With all that weight in front of and over the front wheels, along with those wide front tires, it must have ridiculous turning/front grip....arguably too much. I can't picture it being easy to balance in the air once you hit jumps with no weight at all over the back...also is rear traction an issue?
big bird
AWESOME looking buggy.can i place an order now.very futuristic.
sunnyjai
A brilliant concept. I have seen a similar design like this and heard it's dynamics are out of this world - a power-to-weight ratio of a FF but 4WD dynamics...
speedy_w_beans
I've enjoyed reading the thread and following along with your progress. Looking forward to seeing more video and reading more description in the future.
MAD-BEE
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is AMAZING!!!!!
Now for a Name.....How about the Mantis??
Like the praying Mantis!! This buggy sure looks formidable!!
Chain Driven
Impressive work, I have always been a fan of FWD buggies and cars and that really is going one step further than anything else I've seen. Let us know how it performs.
Origineelreclamebord
Thanks for all the comments!
I forgot to share this in the description - [Click here] - It is the video of the first test run on clay. It's setup had nearly no damping (hence it's a little bouncy) and the material is not durable enough to handle jumps or driving on the edge - despite that, I was really impressed with the handling!
Origineelreclamebord
A bit more comment about the handling of it: Rear traction is not an issue, in fact, narrower rear tires are probably sufficient. The front traction is decent, but that's at 3000kV - It's cornering is unlike anything you'd expect of other cars: It won't really become unstable, and if it does oversteer, you're not applying enough throttle! It literally pulls itself into and through corners. It's turn-in has a slight push it seems, it may be the weight up front, the wide tires, the bad ackermann angle it had on the first test run... The goal now is to gather data with this car by testing it, and find areas to improve the car.
mor10retro
Very speil and very very Cool! Love the idea.
Road Burner
That looks killer!
def4x4
Never seen such a grazy cool buggy like that, dose it not help to put the rear wing a bit more backwards to get more downforce. Even it has a better look from the sides. Beautiful work.
kontemax
This car need a better body, even in orange yellow.
R/CVET
Amazing work....this thing looks awesome!!
Origineelreclamebord
@Kontemax: Your comment makes me laugh. It can indeed be improved (a lot) on the body. I'll be working on that in a later stage (once the chassis has seen more testing and has had some redevelopment
- - - @def4x4: The rear end actually doesn't seem to need a lot of downforce... However, rear downforce could prove important to compensate (a bit) for it's front weight in mid air, so I'll definetely try such stuff out on the car 
mrmtodd
Looks like an offroad version of the FF Yokomo(?) built many years ago. Very cool buggy, and excellent design work!
wldnas
That last front end shot kinda looks like Bane off the new Batman movie...
kontemax
mr.retreader
Love the work!, looking forward to the updates.
Nayfy
Very original, I look forward to seeing how it performs! You are certainly a skilled individul.
SHY69
Übercool!!!
netsmithUK
Whats the update after 5 more years
?
Origineelreclamebord
I've lost count on how many generations of FWD buggies I made since; what I can tell is that I made my first production FWD buggy in 2015, the ORB Racing FF210. And as we speak, I am ordering the first batch of parts for the second production FWD buggy, the ORB Racing Forward. The FF210 and the Forward are no longer Tamiya-based, but I like to think that it doesn't affect the unique nature of the car
Origineelreclamebord
If you're curious: Here are the manual of the:
ORB Racing FF210: [Click here]
ORB Racing Forward: site.petitrc.com/setup/orbracing/setupforward/Fwd_Manual.pdf
And some action vids:
A-final with the FF210 at the Kampenhout International GP in 2017: [Click here]
Testing of the Forward: [Click here]
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